I'll Be Waiting
by Xilathane
Summary: Chapter one is up and in the same night as the prelude. I'm on a roll! The two main heros have been introduced. Read and review please.
1. Prelude

Author's note: The characters of Drizzt Do'Urden, Wulfgar, Catti-brie and Bruenor Battlehammer are all property of Bob Salvatore. In short, I do not lay claim to these names, nor the characters behind them. Various other characters are the property of their creators and/or Wizards of the Coast. Toril and the Forgotten Realms are property of Wizards of the Coast. The names and characters of Kalyanna Silvernight, Zelgadiss Xilathane, Janus Magnus and The Stave are the property of myself. If anyone would like to use the three above stated characters or the above stated artifact, please contact me and ask my permission. Thank you.  
  
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Prelude  
  
The Farsea Marshes of Cormyr, not so much a happening place that lends itself well as a vacationing spot or a place to visit. Though one thing somehow managed to always draw adventurers to this death trap. The promise of riches beyond their wildest dreams. Those riches -- things such as gold and magical items long lost in the sands of time -- were tucked away within the marshes, within the ruins of an ancient civilization, in buildings made entirely of glass.  
  
Though normally quiet, the glass halls of the Farsea Marshes let sound the echos of footfalls within them. They seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. And the creatures living in the halls moved away from the sounds whenever they could discern the actual location of the source. Larger creatures sat in what could only be described as awe while a tall shadow passed by them.  
  
Though the halls led nowhere and everywhere, a feat that would surely confuse even the most hardened adventurer, the shadow form glided easily through them as though it knew where it was going. Looking around, the glowing orbs where eyes would be, silver in color, took note of all the well placed traps that would have killed any common person before this point in the search. The shadow walked through illusionary walls -- sure enough, as real looking as any other glass wall in sight -- and continued its trek through the ruins. Finally, upon reaching an apparent dead end, the shadow removed from the cloak it wore a rod, and hastily began tracing a circle upon the ground and inscribing it with magical runes. When the preparations were complete, it replaced the rod in its cloak and took a seat within the center of the magical circle; which was followed by a low, and rhythmic chanting in the draconic tongue. The runes burst to life in a green flame.  
  
Once the lights had faded, the shadowed figure and the circle of power sat in a completely different room with no visible sign of exit other than the magical transportation used to enter it. The room itself was dipped in shadows save for a twenty foot diameter column of light that seemed to usher from the ground. In the center of this pillar rested a throne, and upon that glass throne sat a skeletal figure, a collection of bones covered in fine silk garments of purple and other noble colors. The skeleton's bones were a bright white in color, and trails of ebony energies traveled across its form. More than two dozen ioun stones circled the skull. In the right hand was held a slender stave topped with a star sapphire. And finally, the skull rose and burning red light, from the skull's eye sockets, looked towards the shadowed figure that had appeared in the room. "You have come for what, Janus Magnus of ancient Netheril?" The voice came from the slowly opening jaw of the skull in a chilled air that would freeze any man to his bones.  
  
As if at a command, the shadowed figure stepped forward from the circle and into the pillar of light. It was a man dressed in the dark colored robes of the archwizards of Netheril. And through the long strands of black hair atop his head shown through eyes of silver, made all the more disturbing by the shine the unnatural light gave to them. "Surely you should know ancient lich."  
  
For a moment the red light of the lich's sight dimmed as if in thought, and flared back up to full intensity in only a moment's time. "I know many things. Yet why you have come to me Arcanist, I do not know."  
  
For a moment Magnus stood in thought. The Arcanist felt that he needed to word his reason for being here carefully if he wished to avoid a fight with this powerful adversary. "I have come seeking your infinite knowledge, and The Stave." Already, the Arcanist was plotting an attack plan in his head as to what spell might be of use to break through the defenses of the lich's ioun stones.   
  
"The knowledge of mine you have earned by making it this far." It seemed like Magnus was being offered kindness not often seen in liches. He would soon be proven wrong when the skeletal form stood from its throne with unrivaled speed and thrust the stave in its hand out; the star sapphire glowing. Magnus was thrown and pinned against one of the glass walls. "However, The Stave you will have to pry from my cold and finally dead hands!"  
  
As Magnus hit hard against the glass wall, which lived up to the rumors of being as strong as steel, the air was evacuated from his lungs, and thus the spell he had been casting was interrupted. He was being crushed to death by the power of the very artifact he came to claim. Mustering enough power to speak, and the will to move the fingers of his right hand to trace out the runes of the spell, he began his casting again.  
  
The Ancient undead began a walk towards the helpless Arcanist, unaware of what he was doing. It was indeed a rare thing to kill such an ignorant mortal such as this one, and even rarer that he happened upon the lich of his own free will.  
  
When the undead was within range of the spell, a thin gray bolt flew forth from the outreached fingers of Magnus's hand, striking the undead, and blowing from its body the hand that clutched the artifact. This caused him to fall to the ground hard, coughing up a stream of blood in the process. As for the lich, it recoiled in pain at the massive energies that had disrupted its life force without touching its phylactery. Standing, Magnus calmly walked over to the dismembered hand and removed the artifact it still held. "Your cold dead hand it is."   
Before the lich could enact a spell of its own to protect itself or counter the coming onslaught, a massive torrent of blue energy leapt from the sapphire of the stave, passing through the body of the lich and destroying it, and finally shattering the throne behind it -- its phylactery.   
  
Holding the artifact, and basking in the power that was every bit as much as told in legend, Magnus turned and opened a gate to the outside world. "I must thank you for this gift, ancient lich, Zarkon." The words were drawn into nothingness as the gate closed behind the man. 


	2. A Road Into Trouble

Chapter One:  
A Road Into Trouble  
  
So close, yet so far away. Kalyanna Silvernight needed just a little more rope to lower herself down the pit she now hung in to reach the last gem she and her partner had uncovered from an unfortunate dragon's horde. Her hunter green cloak was blowing in the uprising winds of the pit, which also threw around her longish silver hair and slapped it against her face and in her striking blue eyes. Using her free hand, she brushed the strands of hair from her face and called up to her partner. "A little bit lower, Drizzt!"  
  
And in answer, the dark elf, Drizzt Do'Urden began to move forward, towards the edge of the hole Kalyanna was hanging in. He, himself, wasn't interested in the treasures to be had, and was quite happy with the little bit they had selected to carry out of the lair. However, his friend had insisted on getting this gem, saying it would get them a choice room at an inn. And then his keen ears picked up a clicking sound, and he felt his left foot lower slightly into the ground. His lavender eyes half closed in a look that said he should have expected another one.  
  
And in the pit, Kalyanna's eyes held a similar look to them, and calling back up, she feared what she would hear, "What was that?"  
  
Not even bothering to fight it when he felt the place begin to shake, Drizzt called back down to her. "Randomly placed trap number sixty."  
  
They didn't have much time after that to actually get anything out as the floor under Drizzt's feet gave way and fell into the pit, along with the ceiling immediately above the pit. Falling, and fading into the distant darkness of the dragon's lair with a ton of rock behind them, Kalyanna's voice rang out loud and clear, and filled with annoyance for this particular dragon. "Damn it all to the Nine Hells!"  
  
  
  
That next morning, two figures trudged into Silverymoon. One a drow elf, and the other a moon elf. As normal, Drizzt was getting slightly odd looks, though tolerance of him here was abundant. Kalyanna was more widely accepted than her friend, but that didn't really bother her right now. Since they had gotten into town, she was holding the very gem they had been trying to get when the whole dragon's lair collapsed on them. It was easy for people who knew a fair amount about religion that she either was, or at one point was, a worshipper of the god of thieves, Mask. "Even if we only got a few of the gems, we won't have to adventure for a month with these!" Blue eyes alight, she moved up to Drizzt and walked beside him, with her shoulders held a little higher now.  
  
Though he hurt all over from the fall, Drizzt was at least happy that they'd gotten something for their troubles. "Ever the energetic one." Drizzt allowed his typical stoicism to pass over for a moment of low chuckling. Though she was at least twenty years his senior, he couldn't help but see a little kid in Kalyanna sometimes. "So what are we going to do with our booty?" And once again he plastered that indifferent look upon his face.  
  
The many different things she could do with those gems once she got them exchanged for gold were running through her mind even before her friend had asked her the question. "Well, first, I think we should get two good rooms for the night. We've still got a long way to go before we reach Mithril Hall. Then I think we should get something good to eat!" And so Kalyanna was intent upon finding a shop or any other place that could give her the correct amount of gold for her gems. A hundred years and still she was impressed with the little things of the world.  
  
The rest of the day went about uneventfully. The two had gotten the gold they wanted for their gems, went and found a nice inn to stay at, and had some lunch. It was at that lunch that Drizzt and Kalyanna finally got a chance to talk about something other than gold. And it was Kalyanna that started the conversation. "So, Regis won't be there?"  
  
"No." Drizzt responded while he lightly sipped a mug of ale, nothing to his liking. "His exact words were, "being around you people always brings trouble with it. I like living too much." But I suppose he has other reasons as well for not coming." He shrugged it off, wondering idly how his friends were doing in the north.  
  
She nodded in response to the explanation. Then again, Kalyanna had never really taken much of a liking to the halfling so it was okay to her that he not show up. Continuing with her meal, and discussing the plans for when they did get to Mithril Hall, Kalyanna hadn't noticed the man that was looking her way. Though she wouldn't have cared had she seen him. "Bruenor said he had something to show us."  
  
"And I suspect it will be something worth seeing." Drizzt nodded slowly, finally taking notice of the man eying his friend. Under the hood of his brown cloak he allowed a faint smile to cross his lips. He knew well that if the man thought his friend to be an easy target, the human was sadly mistaken. "You've grabbed somebody's attention." The drow nodded his head in the direction of the man for Kalyanna to follow. He debated with himself about warning the man if he actually came up to her or not. Yes, he would warn him, but past that, if the man pushed the point, he would let the poor fool get what was coming to him.  
  
Kalyanna glanced over at the now slow approaching man. She shook her head, not really wanting to make a scene here. Slowly, she had been developing the same wish of not fighting that Drizzt seemed to display, as well as a slight notion of his stoicism. Finally when the tall human reached her, the silver elf stood up to her impressive height of five feet and stared up at him. "Can I help you?" The folds of her cloak had fallen over her form and masked what her hands were resting upon.  
  
He wasn't well dressed, and balding to boot. When the human smiled, he was missing a few teeth, probably lost in a bar fight or two. Brushing a hand through his hair in a haphazard way of combing it, he licked his lips. "Ye think tha'maybe we can be splittin' the cost of a room?" He was rather bold, and that right there was a turn off to the girl he was trying his hardest to impress.  
  
"You can leave before I hurt you." She grinned up at the man. And though the man couldn't hear it, Drizzt's keen hearing picked up the tension in Kalyanna's body and knew she was ready to tear the man apart. "Because my friend and I have a long way to go, and you're just going to get in the way." She stated matter-of-factly to the massive example of a human before her lean form.  
  
The thought that he had been turned down by someone shocked him at first. No woman had done something like that, then again, he had never before tried to get so friendly with an elf. And never before an elf that was equal parts high explosives and calm, collected summer's breeze. The man roared up with what the elven girl had said to him, causing all of his joints to crack as though they'd not been used in such a way for some time. "No one talks to Haikel like that!"  
  
The crowd of people in the small inn had turned around at the shout the local tough man had given out in time to see him lunge towards the small woman, as though he were ready to break her. And the good majority of the crowd had a feeling there would be one less female in Silverymoon after this. They were very much mistaken.  
  
Kalyanna's cloak flew open as the man came at a lunge towards her and the bottom of his jaw met with the upward thrust of something hard; the pommel of a scimitar. The jeweled pommel struck home on the man's apparent glass jaw, sending him reeling backward and crashing to the ground. He was completely unaware of his surroundings out. Opting to give into the blackness of the unconscious state she had put him in. Kalyanna held a very cold and calculating look on her face -- often the case when she was fighting -- and sheathed her weapon. She hadn't even had to draw the second one. "I suppose I talk to Haikel like that." With a shrug, she turned back to Drizzt and coolly bowed her head. "Sorry for my actions. I'll be going to my room now." Though she was the older of the two, she still held Drizzt respectfully above herself for being her teacher in the ways of the ranger.  
  
All she got from her friend was a nod of his hooded head. He understood why she felt the need to be alone and why she had apologized to him. Holding his collected expression, he looked out one of the windows of the inn, noting the dark overcast in the sky. They had been wise to spend the night here and not brave the coming storm. And it would do his friend good to rest, and get her mind off of what had just happened. Drizzt looked at the dumbfounded people at the bar staring at the downed man. He reasoned that they had never seen Haikel beaten in such a manner, or as quickly before. Offering only a shrug of his shoulders, he strode up the stairs to his room for as restful an afternoon and night he could hope for.  
  
Kalyanna would not sleep well for some time into the night. And as night came, she looked out her room's window to the pounding rain the storm had brought with it. A sigh escaped her lips. And then she went about removing the belt that held her twin scimitars and whip she used. Hanging that on one of the bedposts, she next removed her green mantel and revealed the fine silk that made up her shirt, silk that offered as much protection as the chain shirts others might have worn. She loved the armor she wore, mainly because she could sleep in it if she needed to. And it had been some time since she entered the trance-like state that elves considered sleep, and had grown more accustom to simple sleep. With that thought she fell to the bed, not bothering to change into something better suited for sleeping. The blue silk shirt, green pants and low boots suited her just fine this night.  
  
  
  
The next morning was early for the two of them. Both Drizzt and Kalyanna felt they should leave Silverymoon early and hit the road for the meeting with their friends. They met each other outside their rooms after dressing themselves and packing what they needed up. Then they headed down the stairs for the exit and started out on their way to the next stop on their trip to Mithril Hall, the hall itself.  
  
The road ahead was a quiet one. Neither having much to say for the trip. They followed the tracks of trade wagons to keep their way, and surprisingly for once it was Kalyanna that noticed something amiss. She stopped walking and looked down to the distinct tracks that her and Drizzt had followed many times before in the north near Icewind Dale. "Orc.."  
  
Drizzt had come up behind her and stopped to look down at what she was looking at. It didn't take him long to come to the same conclusion himself. The Moonwood wasn't far off, and the tracks suggested that they would be found there. Placing a hand on Kalyanna's shoulder, he looked towards the direction of the Moonwood. "Perhaps we should take this into our own hands to ensure that future traders won't have to deal with them."  
  
Though she wasn't sure if they should delay themselves any longer than they already had, Kalyanna let a faint smile cross her face and gave a nod of her head. Soon the two friends were off to battle with orcs once again. It didn't take them long to find the tracks leading to the Moonwood, and within. Already they both had drawn their weapons, most notably of which was the scimitar that Drizzt held which gave off an angry blue light. Kalyanna admired the way Twinkle sparked to life when drawn for battle.  
  
It wasn't long before the two rangers were on the perimeter of a camp of eight orcs. Obviously a raiding party. Kalyanna summed it up best for the two of them by offering an idea. "Four for each of us. How about we see who can do away with them the fastest?" She was always one to attempt to outdo Drizzt when it came to the art of fighting with their weapons. For the most part though, they were always dead even with one another, but she had a feeling that this time, she could win such a contest.  
  
"I'll take that challenge." Drizzt had left Kalyanna to herself to figure out her plan of attack on the eight unsuspecting orcs. He on the other hand would flank them from the right and attempt to cause chaos within their ranks. His female friend however had been thinking to use such a tactic from him in order to charge in from the front and take out the lot of them before Drizzt could ready his weapons for more than one kill. With that in her mind, she crept closer to the front of the camp while Drizzt moved off to the side.  
  
It was Kalyanna, from her point of view, that saw the first signs of trouble. There were more than just orcs down there. Two drow also waited in the camp. She wasn't sure why drow would be with an orc raiding party, and found that this turn of events might hamper the two of them more than it would help them. She didn't bother to warn Drizzt, thinking that he had finally seen the same thing she had. She instead made a slight ruckus in the general area she sat at, hoping that one of the orcs would be sent to investigate. In fact, she couldn't have been luckier when just that happened. One of her scimitars came against the back of the orc's right leg when it moved over her to look for the source of the sound. His body collapsed, and before he could get out a scream of pain, it fell upon the very same weapon that had taken it's leg out from under it. Removing the weapon from the body, she quickly cleaned it before sheathing it, and finally scampering up one of the nearby trees to wait for the next to come.  
  
Indeed he had seen the two drow, and remained as puzzled about the situation as his friend was. When he saw the orc fall, he knew the cause of it the instant it happened. Noting two more leave to see to their companion, Drizzt took the moment as his sign to charge in. This was no longer a contest, with two drow involved, this was a serious fight. One orc met him halfway in his trip towards the encampment, and was cut down by a quick spin of Drizzt's body and a scimitar cutting it from hip to hip. As he turned to face the camp, he noticed one of the two orcs heading for Kalyanna fly up into the air and hang there while the other was met with a bright shine in the light and fell. Kalyanna was standing behind it. Drizzt couldn't waste time watching his friend. He had four more orc and two drow to deal with.  
  
The drow stood there and watched as four of their men were cut down before their eyes. Signaling for two of the remaining orcs to head off towards the silver elf, and the other two after the renegade dark elf. The two of them, however, would stay at the center of the encampment, and drew out weapons, a longsword to each of them, and waited for the time if they should need to fight.  
  
Kalyanna was ready to lower the orc from the tree to undo her whip the moment it stopped moving, but soon found herself dropping the hold on her whip and watching the body slam hard into the ground as two more orcs charged her way. The scimitar she had been holding was tossed towards the two oncoming orcs, cutting into one of them on the left of its chest and into its heart. Her other hand drew out the remaining scimitar at her side and began to spin with it. She built up a vast amount of momentum the moment the orc was within her arm's reach, and she powered the blade through the neck of the orc and sent its head flying from its shoulders. And she came to a stop in time to hold a hand out and catch the scimitar that had dislodged itself from the chest of the other orc and came flying back to her hand. She was off in a charge for the two drow now.  
  
Drizzt met the orcs halfway in their charge this time, and with scimitars flying began to parry assaults with great axes. When he got an opening, he took it. One orc was ran through in its right side, under the arm. The other orc took Twinkle straight in its face when it charged after Drizzt, thinking him too busy with the other monster to be worried about his back. Removing the two weapons from their respective targets, Drizzt watched the two of them fall to the ground before he turned and began off after the two drow. Again, the thought crossed his mind as to why those two had allied themselves with such foul creatures.  
  
They watched their slaves chopped down before their eyes. The drow hadn't expected something like this, not two elves -- one a drow himself -- daft of sword to come near them. They rose their swords to the ready to meet the two of them in combat. And it wasn't long before they were both squaring off against Drizzt and Kalyanna.  
  
The drow had been keeping up with the two of them fairly well for the first part of the encounter, but soon found themselves losing momentum while their opponents could only gain more. Kalyanna brought both of her weapons in low after she ducked the sideway slash of her adversary's sword and placed both blades into his sides, pushing out the back to cut him nearly in two. She watched him fall foward as she moved out of the way.  
  
Drizzt's opponent lost his cool the moment he saw his comrade fall. This was Drizzt's chance to strike. One scimitar was all that needed to hit home on the drow, through his stomach, and he fell back with a push from Drizzt. And as he looked down at the two fallen drow, he continued to attempt to piece together what could have put two drow on the surface with an orc raiding party.  
  
Both friends cleaned their weapons before placing them back into sheaths. Kalyanna and Drizzt began to walk the way they had come upon entering the forest. On the trip she manager to retrieve her whip and place it back on her belt. Then she looked back over her shoulder. "What do you think they were doing with orcs?" She believed that was the question on both of their minds the moment she asked it.  
  
"I honestly can't say why they were. But the whole situation worries me." Perhaps this was what Bruenor meant to show them when they reached Mithril Hall. Drizzt could only speculate on that being the reasoning of them making this trip. Drawing the hood of his cloak tighter over his head to block out as much of the sun as he could, he continued the walk in silence.  
  
It didn't take the two of them long to see the end of the Moonwood and the trail which they had been taking earlier before their little detour. Perhaps the trade wagons wouldn't need to worry about orcs anymore. But the two of them weren't sure that what they had put down was just a mere raiding party. Something told them it was so much more than that. And that single thought is what made them hasten their trek towards their friends.  
  
  
  
"Is it time?" The voice came from a single being within the blackness of a small room. The only light visible coming from the gem atop a slender stave.  
  
Just beyond the reach of the stave's light two silver points glared out of the darkness. And from those two points came an all too familiar voice. "Yes. We are of sufficient power and numbers now. We can retake this land." The silver beacons leveled with the only other being in the room. "Go and spread the word to everybody that soon we will make our presence known."  
  
"Of course, Lord Magnus." It was said in the drow tongue. And soon the form that spoke those words was gone from the room to leave Magnus to his thoughts.  
  
"Soon..." The archwizard made himself known to the light of the stave, and clutched it within his hands. "Soon I will make this world pay for the hell I was forced to live through on it. And then, I will resurrect my empire, and rule it the way it should have been!" Alone, he laughed. After the thousands of years of planning, his time had come. 


End file.
